


Tempting the Fates

by jessik



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2019-01-01 02:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12146340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessik/pseuds/jessik
Summary: Soulmate AU.... In a world where everyone has a soulmate, Rafael Barba had given up on finding his.....





	Tempting the Fates

**Author's Note:**

> So...soulmate AU is my JAM. I had an idea. I wrote it. Dialogue is not my thing....neither really is fiction writing...but here it goes anyway!

Everyone had a soulmate. Now, everyone did not end up with his or her soulmate. Most did, but having a soulmate was not a guarantee of happiness. It was an opportunity. A possibility to be seized.

You were guaranteed to meet your soulmate. But whether you found out who it was, and what you did thereafter, truly was up to you. You found out if a person was your soulmate at your first kiss. If this was your ONE, then the person's name would magically, painlessly, and instantaneously, appear on the inside of your left wrist. The kiss had to be consensual between both parties. Kissing bandits were not rewarded.

It was not uncommon, however, to see couples with mix-matched tattoos. People who had met their soulmate, and then something happened. The soulmate died. Or maybe, the soulmates met when one person had a deep connection to someone else, a connection the person did not want to give up for the potential of perfection.

It was also not uncommon to find devoted couples, both of whom had naked wrists. People who found at the first kiss that the other was not their soulmate. But they stayed together anyway, because they thought the other still could bring them a fulfilling life.

Ultimately, you loved who you loved. But everybody knew that the ideal situation was to find your soulmate. The person truly meant for you. Life just wasn’t the kindest to all.

Rafael Barba had given up on finding his soulmate. He wasn’t looking for love of any kind, period. But he certainly wasn’t looking for any magical pie-in- the-sky relationship. 

Now, this was a development about 15 years in the making. He had loved before….truly, deeply, and she had hurt him. Married his close friend. The fact that the name Alex was on her wrist was of no solace to him, especially since Alex had proven to be an unfaithful soulmate. Rafael had loved Yelina, whether he bore her name, or not.

Failed relationship, after failed relationship, with women…and men, had taken its toll. Rafael was finished with this searching for perfection. At least in his love life. He would focus his time and attention on finding justice. That he could do….and look damn fine doing it.

Trouble was…. Rafael's brain was totally on board with this plan. But other parts of his body... were not. Evidenced by the way his breath hitched at times whenever a certain somebody came in the room. How flush he would get when that certain somebody got close, sitting on the edge of his desk. The desire his hands had to run his fingers through well-gelled hair. The way his ears perked up to laugher and his eyes basked in dimply smiles. Laughter and smiles that should be rare given the times that they met, the cases they saw, but so appreciated when offered. The other reactions that his…um…nether region…. would have at times. All of these physical signs of attraction and want that he bottled up, and pushed down. Because his brain was right. Justice he could do, romance he could not. 

It seemed to Rafael that the object of his “non-affection,” was absolutely oblivious to the warring that was going on within him. Which was good, because they were colleagues. And he certainly wouldn’t want to make his “non-ONE” uncomfortable. When they first met, Rafael had thought that Detective Dominick, call me Sonny, Carisi might have a little crush on him. Well, that was at a time that Rafael's brain had fully been in charge, and it made sure that Rafael did every thing he could to beat that crush down with snarky comments and biting insults. Detective Carisi took all of that in stride, and nothing became of that crush. Years had passed….and they were just colleagues. Maybe friends. But certainly not more than that.

Which was good, of course. Because this soulmate stuff, well it just wasn’t for Rafael. Even if he was so impressed with Detective Carisi's honesty and integrity. His intelligence and bravery. His overarching sense of decency and kindness. The way he put a victim at ease. The ease with which he swung Detective Rollins' daughter on his hip whenever she happened by the precinct. It was for the best that Detective Carisi did not seem to suspect a thing—though it did speak a little poorly about his detective skills.

It is a case, that finally makes Rafael reconsider his position on romance. Not on soulmates, per se, but on whether he wants love in his life, whether he wants Sonny. It is a case which finds Sonny shadowing Rafael again with Sergeant Benson's permission. It is a case that finds Sonny and Rafael spending long nights together, eating Chinese takeout, parsing over case law. It is a case that finds Rafael trying his best not to get lost in the blue of Sonny's eyes when he should be focusing on “justice”. It is a case in which Rafael realizes that Sonny keeps searching his face---looking for….something, before picking up this or that file and shouldering on.

And once the case was over, and justice was done, it was celebrating victory in this case that found Rafael and Sonny at a bar. Talking about everything other than the case. Deciding to move the conversation to somewhere less noisy and more intimate. Finding themselves at Rafael's apartment.

When the topic of soulmates comes up (Sonny noting that neither of them bore a name on his wrist, asking if Rafael whether that mattered to him), Rafael was quick to disabuse Sonny of the notion that he was looking for his. If Sonny looked disappointed, Rafael did not acknowledge that fact. 

The conversation then veered off in various directions. As the night progressed, however, Sonny and Rafael found themselves drawing physically closer and closer. 

Sonny, of course, is the first to vocalize the sexual tension in the room. Left to his own devices, Rafael probably would have said and did nothing. Sonny admits his crush of long-ago, admits his current attraction. Rafael hears him say, “I know you aren’t looking for a soulmate, but do you think you could take a chance with me?”

Those warring emotions cloud Rafael's head again. Should he give this a try? How can he be sure that this would be anything different than what has happened before? And won’t this be worse, if it doesn’t work out, and he had to work with Sonny day-after-day-after day? Should he tempt the fates? But there Sonny sits, sincere blue eyes, kind smile. So Rafael makes his decision, and pulls Sonny in for a kiss.

It is a soft kiss. Rather chaste. It is not filled with the passion that Rafael has for Sonny, because honestly he wasn’t sure that either he or Sonny were ready for all that. But it was a first kiss none-the-less. And it definitely was consensual.

Rafael and Sonny part and both examine their wrists.

Nothing. Nothing at all. They are blank.

And all Rafael can think is, of course, this is the result. He knew it. Why should this be any different? 

Rafael looks at Sonny. Sonny looks absolutely crestfallen, despite his previous bravado, and Rafael just does not know what to say. Speechless is not a condition he is use to.

They sit in silence. About five minutes later, however, Sonny has found his voice. “This really doesn’t change anything for me, “ he hears Sonny say. “I still want to see where this goes. Soulmate or not.” Just as he is clearing his throat to tell Sonny that of course he agrees, and this soulmate thing is archaic and stupid anyway…something catches Rafael's eye. It’s a name-- written indelibly on his left wrist. DOMINICK.

“Sonny, look at your wrist, “ he exclaims. Rafael can see the utter joy on Sonny's face when he turns over his wrist and finds RAFAEL written there.

“Of course, the fates have a sense of humor,” Sonny says. “Guess they figured we waited this long, we could wait another five minutes.” “Actually,” Rafael retorted, “I think the fates have been quite kind to me.” “Really. Why do you think that? Because you are now stuck with me?” Sonny asked, his face showing those dimples that Rafael might just love the most. “No, not that. I was truly worried that I might just have to go around with the word SONNY on my wrist for the rest of my life. Thankfully, I was spared that indignity.” Rafael could tell that Sonny was torn between slugging him on his shoulder and kissing him silly. So he made the first move, determined to seize his possibility.


End file.
